Looking for Planets Through a Microscope
May 24, 2011 5 Comments
Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, J. Hester and P. Scowen (Arizona State University)
In the film version of John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row, the main character, a marine biologist, finds his prize microscope broken and unusable. The responsible parties, a band of well-intentioned but uneducated, down-on-their-luck citizens, order a new microscope from a catalog. On the day of its arrival, the band throws a party to surprise the biologist with the brand new, state-of-the-art microscope. When the gift is revealed, he is surprised indeed. They had purchased a telescope instead of a microscope; great for viewing stars and planets, not for viewing the cells of marine life. (Cannery Row. Dir. David S. Ward. Perf. Nick Nolte and Debra Winger. MGM 1982)
"The Things of My Soul" 